National U-17s under FF Jaro radar

May 20, 2017 Sports

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Coach Heames and defender Moore leading Talent ID initiative 
By Franklin Wilson

Under the auspices of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) former national defender Walter ‘Boyd’ Moore currently plying his trade with FF Jaro and his Coach Kristian Heames has commenced a three-day Talent Identification Initiative with Guyana’s Under-17 team yesterday in the Ancient County of Berbice.
The duo along with GFF President Wayne Forde, GFF Technical Director Ian Greenwood, former National player Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson and federation PRO Debra Francis briefed the media yesterday at the Pegasus Hotel.
GFF President Wayne Forde in opening remarks welcomed the initiative which he said was birthed a few months ago when Moore reached out to him with the idea of coming to Guyana with his coach on a talent ID initiative.
”Of course it took very little on my part to recognize that this can really do tremendously good for Guyana’s football; so immediately we started to put the modalities in place and here we are today which is the realization of that initiative.”
Reminiscing that Moore has played at every level from junior to senior for Guyana, Forde noted that the fearless defender has had an illustrious career where he was always an exemplary player, sportsman and overall human being off the field.
”So we’re proud of the opportunity to have Walter here and to have a firsthand look at the remarkable work that we are doing through our Technical Director and our Technical staff and the new technical development structure in making the priorities of the GFF football and football first.”
Forde also mentioned that the strategy of the federation is to do everything within its powers top involve former national players, noting that five of those players have already been employed by the federation including the Women’s and Youth Development Officers.
With the aim of ultimately exposing players to a higher level of play in Europe, Coach Heames spoke of his excitement to be here to execute a well thought out idea by his charge, Walter Moore.
”When he first mentioned to me about this initiative and about the things that were going on in football in Guyana, I thought that sounds really interesting. As we talked about it and we were thinking about the opportunities that potentially could come from this and maybe some pathways and some experiences that can help some young develop, I just thought it seemed like a really exciting opportunity.”
Heames noted that he was looking forward to see the players in the training sessions and practice games to have an appreciation of what their levels are.
Thereafter, Coach Heames would be discussing with the federation to see what the possibilities can be from a European perspective.
”I think with Walter’s experience playing in Europe, I think that’s a big help and I think the fact that he’s in Finland at the moment for any young players here might be a good role model, a good example and a step for players who need to progress in the professional game.”
Moore in his remarks first thanked the GFF for accepting his request to give back which came about as a result of him {Moore}browsing the GFF facebook page and seeing the work that has been taking place with regards to academies by TD Ian Greenwood.
”I thought to myself, if I had opportunities like that with somebody who has been involved in professional coaching or a professional agent that plays in Europe I probably would have been further in my career.”
Moore said he then shared the idea with his Coach and asked his thoughts on coming to Guyana to have a look at some very talented players.
”He said it’s a good idea and this is me trying to give back to Guyana’s football. I think I did enough on the field already and now it’s time for a new level, a new step, a new adventure, a new beginning.”
TD Greenwood shared that a lot of work would have gone into developing the academy structures including employing technical development staff to have a clear pathway for the young players countrywide on how they can get into the national setup. ”The one key aspect that we are missing at the moment is having player pathways and player exit routes, so when we get players that are 16 and 17 they need to have somewhere to go. We are looking at careers in realistic links, now Finland is an excellent opportunity for our young players to get their first taste of European football.”
Greenwood shared that it is their intention to develop this programme on an annual basis where clubs and scouts would be invited to have a look at the quality of the players here.
Another former National Player, Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson, who also shared the head table yesterday in keeping with the federation’s strategy of involving former players, complimented his former playing mate for bringing his coach to Guyana.
”It’s going to be a wonderful programme we’re starting now. When I am involved I like to see the youths going forward because I was a youngster one time. It’s good now that the youngsters are getting an opportunity.”
Richardson encouraged support for the GFF and its youth development plan, noting that Guyana has some very good youth players.
Two sessions are fixed for today and one for tomorrow while there was one yesterday at the #5 ground, West Coast Berbice.
Greenwood noted that videos of the players and session would be produced to expose the talent.
He also informed that the video of Guyana’s U-17 win over Haiti in Martinique was seen by Heames who had obtained same from an agent so he has an idea of some of the players he would be seeing over the next few days.

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